How to Cook Shrimp

If you are learning how to cook shrimp you will find they come in many sizes. You can purchase shrimp all year round in many forms. They might be in the shell, shelled and deveined and even cooked and ready to use. In the freezer department they are available uncooked, cooked and already breaded. Small shrimp are also available in cans. I like these to keep on the pantry shelf and have them ready to use in salads and dips.

Whether purchasing prepackaged or by bulk, shrimp are sold by the pound. One pound of unshelled shrimp will produce ½ pound of cooked shelled meat. When learning how to cook shrimp you will need to know how much to serve per person. Typically, it is recommended to plan for each serving ½ pound uncooked shrimp in the shell, 1/3 pound if shelled or ¼ pound if already shelled and cooked. However true this is, I have found this is not enough for the average person. People love shrimp! Perhaps this is because shrimp is so light and not very filling. It could also be that good shrimp is not easily available around me.

It is important to know what to look for when buying and learning how to cook shrimp. Different varieties of shrimp may appear to have different colors. Expect shrimp shells to be light gray, red or pinkish brown. When cooked the shrimp meat will be a whitish pink color. When purchasing fresh shrimp, it should have a very mild “fish” odor and the texture should be firm. Strong odor and mushy texture is a sign of old shrimp and bad.

Before learning how to cook shrimp you must learn how to clean and prepare it. That is unless you purchase it already done. To SHELL shrimp hold it with outside curve and tail away from you. With kitchen shears cut through the shell and top of shrimp about 1/16 inch to the tail to expose the vein. Hold the tail in one hand and gently pull the shrimp free of the shell keeping tail meat in tact. To DEVEIN hold shelled shrimp under cold water with fingertips pull the black or green vein from the shrimp.

How to Cook Shrimp: Cutting the Shrimp to Devein

Removing Shrimp Vein

Many cooks leave the vein in saying it is harmless and only is a matter of looks. When I was young, pretty inexperienced with seafood and learning how to cook shrimp, I worked with a nice Spanish lady. We were cleaning shrimp and removing the veins. She told me the vein was the sh*t of the shrimp. I have always made sure to remove all the veins!

Cooking shrimp is very fast and very easy. If you are not along the coast where shrimp is abundant, you will find the only “hard” thing is “paying for it”. If you love this shellfish like most people do, you will find it can be very expensive after you learn how to cook shrimp. If you want plain cooked shrimp it is very easy. Bring enough lightly salted water to cover shrimp in a pot to a boil. After washing drop in the shrimp and return the water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 to 3 minutes according to the size of shrimp. The meat will appear opaque in color.

When you learn how to cook shrimp try adding other ingredients for flavor when boiling. Beer is sometimes substituted for the water in cooking. Ingredients like black pepper, onion, celery and different spices add great flavor. Overcooking the shrimp is easy to do because of the small size. Be careful because this makes the meat tough.

CAUTION NOTE: I like to serve shrimp with tails on for a prettier presentation however it is not always recommended. Never leave the tails on when serving to children also people who are not use to eating shrimp. For many shrimp is not a common food and I have seen them choke by not knowing. This is also why I do not serve shrimp with the tails on to children.